different between choke vs contract

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ch?k
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t????k/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /t??o?k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Etymology 1

From Middle English choken (also cheken), from Old English ??ocian, ???ocian (“to choke”), probably derived from Old English ??oce, ??ace (“jaw, cheek”), see cheek. Cognate with Icelandic kok (“throat”), koka (“to gulp”). See also achoke.

Alternative forms

• choak (obsolete)
• choake (obsolete)
• chock (dialectal)

Verb

choke (third-person singular simple present chokes, present participle choking, simple past and past participle choked)

1. (intransitive) To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles in the air that cause the throat to constrict).
   • 1919, Zane Grey, The Desert of Wheat, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter 6, p. 66,^[1]

     Lenore began to choke with the fine dust and to feel her eyes smart and to see it settle on her hands and dress.

2. (transitive) To prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe.

   Synonyms: asphyxiate, strangle, suffocate, throttle

   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act II, Scene 1,^[2]

     With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder:

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Luke 8.33,^[3]

     Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

   • 1918, Willa Cather, My Ántonia, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Chapter 15, pp. 282-283,^[4]

     The man became insane; he stood over me, choking me with one fist and beating me in the face with the other […]

3. (transitive) To obstruct (a passage, etc.) by filling it up or clogging it.

   Synonyms: block up, bung up, clog, congest, jam, obstruct, stop up

   • 1709, Joseph Addison, The Tatler, No. 120, 14 January, 1709, in The lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff Esq., London, 1712, Volume 3, p. 31,^[5]

     This was a Passage, so rugged, so uneven, and choaked with so many Thorns and Briars, that it was a melancholy Spectacle to behold the Pains and Difficulties which both Sexes suffered who walked through it.

   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Penguin, 1992, Part 2, Chapter 4, p. 492,^[6]

     But at Christmas the pavements were crowded with overdressed shoppers from the country, the streets choked with slow but strident traffic.

   • 2012, Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists, New York: Weinstein Books, Chapter 13, p. 168,^[7]

     The waterfall is now a trickle, and the pool is choked with algae and drowned leaves and broken-off branches.

4. (transitive) To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to kill (a plant by robbing it of nutrients); to extinguish (fire by robbing it of oxygen).

   Synonyms: choke out, stifle

   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act III, Scene I,^[8]

     Now ’tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;

     Suffer them now, and they’ll o’ergrow the garden

     And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 13.7,^[9]

     And some [seeds] fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

   • 1697, John Dryden (translator), “The Fifth Pastoral,” lines 55-56, in The Works of Virgil, London: Jacob Tonson, p. 22,^[10]

     No fruitful Crop the sickly Fields return;

     But Oats and Darnel choak the rising Corn.

   • 1998, Nuruddin Farah, Secrets, Penguin, 1999, Chapter 3, p. 67,^[11]

     I have cut maize stalks or green plants with which he means to choke the flames.

5. (intransitive, colloquial) To perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition, especially when one appears to be clearly winning.
   • 2019, “1 Point Away, Serena Stunned by Pliskova at Australian Open,” The New York Times, 22 January, 2019,^[12]

     “I can’t say that I choked on those match points,” Williams said. “She literally played her best tennis ever on those shots.”

6. (transitive) To move one's fingers very close to the tip of a pencil, brush or other art tool.
   • 1973, Wayne Otto et al., Corrective and Remedial Teaching, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2nd edition, Chapter 13, p. 361,^[13]

     A brief tryout will demonstrate that the modified grip does indeed make it difficult to “choke” the pencil or apply excessive pressure to the paper.

7. (intransitive) To be checked or stopped, as if by choking

   Synonym: stick

   • 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, Chapter 18,^[14]

     […] the words choked in his throat.

   • 1929, Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel, New York: Modern Library, Part 3, Chapter 29, p. 413,^[15]

     Speech choked in Eugene’s throat.

8. (transitive) To check or stop (an utterance or voice) as if by choking.
   • 1684, Aphra Behn, Love-Letters between a Noble-man and his Sister, London, “The Amours of Philander and Silvia,” p. 277,^[16]

     A hundred times fain he would have spoke, but still his rising Passion choak’d his Words;

   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 14,^[17]

     […] tears choked the utterance of the dame de compagnie, and she buried her crushed affections and her poor old red nose in her pocket handkerchief.

   • 1896, H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Chapter 9,^[18]

     At that I opened my mouth to speak, and found a hoarse phlegm choked my voice.

   • 1905, William John Locke, The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne, Chapter 20,^[19]

     Her laugh got choked by a sob.

   • 1967, Chaim Potok, The Chosen, New York: Ballantine, 1982, Chapter 18, p. 282,^[20]

     Danny let out a soft, half-choked, trembling moan.

9. (intransitive) To have a feeling of strangulation in one's throat as a result of passion or strong emotion.
   • 1894, Israel Zangwill, The King of Schnorrers, New York: Macmillan, Chapter 2, p. 48,^[21]

     Grobstock began to choke with chagrin.

   • 2007, Ng?g? wa Thiong'o, Wizard of the Crow, New York: Knopf Doubleday, Book 3, p. 435,^[22]

     Tajirika felt himself choking with anger. How dare those hussies interfere with his business?

10. (transitive) To give (someone) a feeling of strangulation as a result of passion or strong emotion.
    • 1712, Jonathan Swift, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity in The Works of J.S., Dublin: George Faulkner, 1735, Volume 1, p. 104,^[23]

      […] I am very sensible how much the Gentlemen of Wit and Pleasure are apt to murmur, and be choqued at the Sight of so many daggled-tail Parsons, who happen to fall in their Way, and offend their Eyes […]

    • 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, London: F. Newbery, Act IV, p. 80,^[24]

      I shall run distracted. My rage choaks me.

    • 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter 13,^[25]

      And my remembrance of them both, choking me, I broke down […] and laid my face in my hands upon the table.

    • 1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, New York: Viking, p. 42,^[26]

      Charlotte made herself stiff, controlling sudden choking emotion.

11. (transitive) To say (something) with one’s throat constricted (due to emotion, for example).
    • 1901, Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Chapter 6,^[27]

      ‘There is the padre!’ Kim choked as bare-headed Father Victor sailed down upon them from the veranda.

    • 1995, Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance, London: Faber and Faber, 1997, Epilogue, p. 583,^[28]

      “The bastards!” he choked. “I hope they are all caught and hanged!”

12. (transitive) To use the choke valve of (a vehicle) to adjust the air/fuel mixture in the engine.
    • 1939, John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, New York: Viking, 1962, Chapter 26, p. 492,^[29]

      The engine caught, spluttered, and roared as Tom choked the car delicately.

13. (intransitive, fluid mechanics, of a duct) To reach a condition of maximum flowrate, due to the flow at the narrowest point of the duct becoming sonic (Ma = 1).
14. To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.

Translations

Noun

choke (plural chokes)

1. A control on a carburetor to adjust the air/fuel mixture when the engine is cold.
2. (sports) In wrestling, karate (etc.), a type of hold that can result in strangulation.
3. A constriction at the muzzle end of a shotgun barrel which affects the spread of the shot.
4. A partial or complete blockage (of boulders, mud, etc.) in a cave passage.
5. (electronics) choking coil
6. A major mistake at a crucial stage of a competition because one is nervous, especially when one is winning.

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Back-formation from artichoke.

Noun

choke (plural chokes)

1. The mass of immature florets in the centre of the bud of an artichoke.

French

Verb

choke

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t??k/

1. inflection of choker:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Hawaiian Creole

Etymology

From English choke.

Pronoun

choke

1. a lot, many

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?n'tr?kt
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?nt?ækt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?nt?ækt/

Noun

contract (plural contracts)

1. An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.

   Synonyms: compact, pact
2. (law) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
3. (law) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
4. (informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.

5. (bridge) The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.

Synonyms

• (part of legal studies): contract law

Hypernyms

• (agreement that is legally binding): agreement

Hyponyms

• (agreement that is legally binding): bailment

Derived terms

• contract of employment
• contractual
• fixed-term contract

Translations

Adjective

contract (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
2. (obsolete) Not abstract; concrete.

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?ntr?kt, IPA^(key): /k?n?t?ækt/

Verb

contract (third-person singular simple present contracts, present participle contracting, simple past and past participle contracted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.

   The snail's body contracted into its shell.

   to contract one's sphere of action

   • 1835, William Wordsworth, The Armenian Lady's Love

     Years contracting to a moment.

   • 1675, Richard Allestree, The Government of the Tongue

     We see in all things how desuetude do's contract and narrow our faculties.

2. (grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.

   The word "cannot" is often contracted into "can't".

3. (transitive) To enter into a contract with. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. (transitive) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.

   • We have contracted an inviolable amitie, peace, and league with the aforesaid Queene.

   • 1721, John Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials

     Many persons […] had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity […] prohibited by law.

5. (intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant; to agree; to bargain.

   to contract for carrying the mail

6. (transitive) To bring on; to incur; to acquire.

   She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens.

   to contract a debt

   • 1717, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Mr. Jervas

     Each from each contract new strength and light.

   • c. 1703-1720, Jonathan Swift, An Essay on the Fates of Clergymen

     That kind of behaviour, which we contract by having too much conversation with persons of high station.

7. (transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).
   • 1999, Davidson C. Umeh, Protect Your Life: A Health Handbook for Law Enforcement Professionals, page 69:

     An officer contracted hepatitis B and died after handling the blood-soaked clothing of a homicide victim […]

8. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
9. To betroth; to affiance.

Synonyms

• (lessen): abate, decrease, lessen, reduce
• (shorten): shorten, shrink
• (gain or acquire (an illness)): catch, get

Antonyms

• (lessen): increase, expand
• (shorten): grow, lengthen

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch contract, from Old French contract, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrah? (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?tr?kt/
• Hyphenation: con?tract
• Rhymes: -?kt

Noun

contract n (plural contracten, diminutive contractje n)

1. contract

Synonyms

• overeenkomst

Derived terms

• arbeidscontract
• contractarbeider
• contractbreuk
• handelscontract
• huurcontract
• koopcontract

Related terms

• contracteren
• contractueel

Descendants

• Afrikaans: kontrak
• ? Indonesian: kontrak
• ? West Frisian: kontrakt

Romanian

Etymology

From French contrat, from Latin contractus.

Noun

contract n (plural contracte)

1. contract

Declension

Scots

Etymology

From English contract.

Noun

contract (plural contracts)

1. contract

Welsh

Etymology

From English contract.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?ntrakt/

Noun

contract m (plural contractau)

1. contract

   Synonym: cytundeb

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “contract”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies